Aqua Human Interface Guidelines

Inside Mac OS X Aqua Human Interface Guidelines October 2001 Apple Computer, Inc. trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., © 2001 Apple Computer, Inc. registered in the United States and All rights reserved. other countries. 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Sherlock, and WorldScript are Contents Figures and Tables 13 Chapter 1 Introduction to the Aqua Human Interface Guidelines 19 The Benefits of Applying the Interface Guidelines 20 Tools for Applying the Guidelines 20 If You Have a Need Not Covered by the Guidelines 22 What’s New in Aqua 23 Filename Extension Hiding 25 Chapter 2 Human Interface Design 27 Human Interface Design Principles 27 Metaphors 27 Direct Manipulation 28 See-and-Point 28 Consistency 29 WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) 29 User Control 30 Feedback and Dialog 30 Forgiveness 31 Perceived Stability 31 Aesthetic Integrity 31 Modelessness 32 Knowledge of Your Audience 33 Worldwide Compatibility 33 Cultural Values 34 Language Differences 34 Text Display and Text Editing 35 Default Alignment of Interface Elements 35 Resources 36 3 Apple Computer, Inc. October 2001 CONTENTS Universal Accessibility 36 Visual Disabilities 37 Hearing Disabilities 37 Physical Disabilities 38 Chapter 3 The Dock 39 Dock Notification Behavior 39 Dock Menus 40 Clicking in the Dock 41 Chapter 4 Menus 43 What’s New in Aqua 43 Menu Elements 45 Menu Titles 45 Menu Items 46 Grouping Items in Menus 46 Menu Behavior 48 Scrolling Menus 48 Toggled Menu Items 49 Hierarchical Menus (Submenus) 50 Sticky Menus 51 Standard Pull-Down Menus (The Menu Bar) 51 The Apple Menu 52 The Application Menu 53 The Application Menu Title 54 The Application Menu Contents 55 The File Menu 55 The Edit Menu 58 The View Menu 60 The Window Menu 60 The Help Menu 61 Menu Bar Status Items 61 Contextual Menus 62 4 Apple Computer, Inc. October 2001 CONTENTS Using Special Characters and Text Styles in Menus 63 Using Symbols in Menus 63 Using Ellipses in Menus 64 Using Text Styles and Fonts in Menus 65 Chapter 5 Windows 67 What’s New in Aqua 68 Window Appearance and Behavior 69 Opening and Naming Windows 70 Positioning Windows 73 Closing Windows 76 Moving Windows 77 Resizing and Zooming Windows 77 Active and Inactive Windows 78 Click-Through 78 Scrolling Windows 81 Automatic Scrolling 83 Minimizing and Expanding Windows 84 Windows With Changeable Panes 84 Special Windows 85 Drawers 85 When to Use Drawers 86 Drawer Behavior 86 Utility Windows 87 The About Window 88 Chapter 6 Dialogs 91 What’s New in Aqua 91 Types of Dialogs and When to Use Them 92 Document-Modal Dialogs (Sheets) 93 Sheet Behavior 94 When to Use Sheets 94 When Not to Use Sheets 95 Alerts 95 5 Apple Computer, Inc. October 2001 CONTENTS Dialog Behavior 98 Accepting Changes 98 The Open Dialog 99 Saving, Closing, and Quitting Behavior 101 Save Dialogs 102 Closing a Document With Unsaved Changes 105 Saving Documents During a Quit Operation 106 Saving a Document With the Same Name as an Existing Document 109 The Choose Dialog 110 The Printing Dialogs 112 Chapter 7 Controls 115 What’s New in Aqua 115 Control Behavior and Appearance 116 Push Buttons 116 Push Button Specifications 117 Radio Buttons and Checkboxes 118 Radio Button and Checkbox Specifications 119 Selections Containing More Than One Checkbox State 119 Pop-Up Menus 120 Pop-Up Menu Specifications 122 Command Pop-Down Menus 123 Combination Boxes 123 Combo Box Specifications 124 The Text Entry Field 125 The Pop-Up Menu or Scrolling List 125 Placards 126 Bevel Buttons 126 Bevel Button Specifications 127 Pop-Up Icon Buttons and Pop-Up Bevel Buttons 128 Slider Controls 131 Slider Control Specifications 131 Tab Controls 132 Tab Control Specifications 133 Progress Indicators and Relevance Controls 135 6 Apple Computer, Inc. October 2001 CONTENTS Text Fields and Scrolling Lists 137 Tools for Creating Lists 138 Text Input Field Specifications 139 Scrolling List Specifications 140 Image Wells 140 Disclosure Triangles 141 Chapter 8 Layout Guidelines 143 Positioning Controls in Dialogs and Windows 143 Group Boxes 144 Sample Dialog Layouts 147 Using Small Versions of Controls 153 Chapter 9 User Input 155 What’s New in Aqua 155 The Mouse and Other Pointing Devices 156 Using the Mouse 156 Clicking 157 Double-Clicking 157 Pressing 157 Dragging 158 The Keyboard 158 The Functions of Specific Keys 159 Character Keys 159 Modifier Keys 161 Arrow Keys 162 Function Keys 167 Keyboard Focus and Navigation 168 Keyboard Equivalents 172 Creating Your Own Keyboard Equivalents 174 Type-Ahead and Auto-Repeat 176 Selecting 176 Selection Methods 177 Selection by Clicking 178 7 Apple Computer, Inc. October 2001 CONTENTS Selection by Dragging 178 Changing a Selection With Shift-Click 179 Changing a Selection With Command-Click 180 Selections in Text 181 Selecting With the Mouse 181 What Constitutes a Word 182 Selecting Text With the Arrow Keys 183 Selections in Graphics 183 Selections in Arrays and Tables 183 Editing Text 184 Inserting Text 184 Deleting Text 184 Replacing a Selection 185 Intelligent Cut and Paste 185 Editing Text Fields 186 Entering Passwords 187 Chapter 10 Fonts 189 Chapter 11 Icons 191 What’s New in Aqua 191 More Realistic Icons 191 Icon Genres and Families 192 Types of Icons 194 Application Icons 194 User Application Icons 194 Viewer, Player, and Accessory Icons 196 Utility Icons 197 Non-Application Icons 197 Document Icons 197 Icons for Preferences and Plug-ins 199 Icons for Hardware and Removable Media 199 Toolbar Icons 201 Icon Perspectives 202 8 Apple Computer, Inc. October 2001 CONTENTS Icon Materials 204 Conveying an Emotional Quality in Icons 205 Suggested Process for Creating Aqua Icons 206 Tips for Designing Aqua Icons 207 Chapter 12 Drag and Drop 209 Drag and Drop Design Overview 209 Drag and Drop Semantics 210 Move Versus Copy 210 When to Check the Option Key State 211 Selection Feedback 212 Single-Gesture Selection and Dragging 212 Background Selections 212 Drag Feedback 213 Destination Feedback 213 Windows 213 Text 214 Multiple Dragged Items 214 Automatic Scrolling 215 Using the Trash as a Destination 215 Drop Feedback 215 Finder Icons 216 Graphics 216 Text 216 Transferring a Selection 216 Feedback for an Invalid Drop 217 Clippings 217 Chapter 13 Help 219 What’s New in Aqua 219 Apple’s Philosophy of Help 220 Help Viewer 221 Providing Access to Help 222 9 Apple Computer, Inc. October 2001 CONTENTS Help Tags 222 Help Tag Guidelines 223 Setup Assistants 225 Chapter 14 Language 229 Style 229 Terminology 230 Developer Terms and User Terms 230 Labels for Interface Elements 230 Capitalization of Interface Elements 231 Using Contractions in the Interface 232 Writing Good Alert Messages 232 Chapter 15 File Location 235 Predefined User Domain Directories 235 Appendix A Checklist for Creating Aqua Applications 237 General Considerations 237 Graphic Design 239 Menus 240 Pop-Up Menus 241 Windows 241 Scrolling 242 Utility Windows 243 Dialogs 243 Alerts 245 The Mouse 245 Keyboard Equivalents 246 Text 246 Icons 247 User Documentation 247 Help Tags 248 10 Apple Computer, Inc.

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